The Staff, Grouse Creek Mall

I have a number of personal projects going at any one time. Small town holiday celebrations is one of them. Small stores, shops & stands is another. By going to Grouse Creek I was able to get some good images for both projects.

When I say 'small town', I mean it. Grouse Creek had almost 300 people out to watch the parade, including ranchers & their families from a three state area. (sounds more impressive this way). The three state area is the far Northwest corner of Utah, the far Northeast corner of Nevada and a bit of Idaho near City of Rocks. A lot of square miles and few inhabitants. The parade included three or four pickup trucks, two cub scouts as the flag bearers, four members of the sheriff's horse possee, three tractors and a couple towed 'floats' with local kids, a few clowns and the local ambulance.

As I said, a small town parade.

The Grouse Creek Mall is a wonder to behold. Two fuel pumps, one for diesel and one for gas. A storefront with the interior about the size of a small bedroom. And nice, helpful folks manning the store. I really needed to make the trip to photograph it, along with the signs directing 'traffic' to it, before the owner remodels it and puts up his new signs. New signs don't have the same feel as the weather beaten ones in the sagebrush.

So, I took the 8x10 and 5x7 for the main images and the 35mm for some parade shots. Came up with some good ones I will have use for in the future. A few to add to the small but growing collection for future shows and possibly a book project or two.

I don't know how many of you photograph. I don't know if you go out & try to 'get lucky' with light, subject matter or locations. Or, if you plan to the n'th degree in a frenzy of overkill and creativity sapping rigidity. But, no matter how you photograph, having a few long term projects can really help keep your interest in your images high as well as keeping the fun in your photography.

One friend keeps a camera handy and photographs signs posted on telephone polls. Yard sales, political campaign ads, stuff like that. Another documents hand painted office door signs and over the years has amassed quite a collection of a disappearing art form. Still another photographs kids summertime kool-aid and lemonade stands.

Others photograph projects with personal meaning to senseless (to most of us) objects. The focus here is that they are doing an ongoing series of something that gives them a reason to have a camera handy and at the same time are trying to create good images from what they see every day.

Take a look at a lot of the art projects of notable photographers and you will find personal projects are high on the list. Weston nudes to Adams landscapes were, for the most part, personal projects that grew little by little until a body of work was on film. Finally they had work so strong it couldn't be ignored, even as they added even more images, and the work was shown publicly.

One good aspect to personal photo projects is that they help you set goals with your photography. Just as I encourage everyone to shoot, mount, mat and frame at least an image a month, I encourage personal projects. Document, experiment and explore with the camera. As you do so you might get some incredible questions as to "why would any sane person photograph that"!!!??? But, as part of an 'ongoing documentary project', you have a ready answer. A reason to explore your passion and expand your vision. A good reason to set aside time to create images.

It doesn't have to be earth shattering in importance, but I belive it needs to be something you find interesting. The process of photographing just to get some kind of result is best left to some of the inane assignments of a photo class. Pick as a project something you would like to do. For whatever reason. Whether it is strippers, artificial flies for trout fishing, fire hydrants or worn steps on abandoned homes, if it is something you would like to do you will do a better job than if it is merely 'an assignment'.

I find small town celebrations and festivals to be fun. I still have to back to Oregon to get a really nice Mosquito festival image, this time with a few extra cases of insect repellant. And a few other places for holiday celebrations of all types. Here in Utah the 24th of July, the date of the arrival of the Mormon Religious Pioneers into Great Salt Lake Valley in 1847, is the most widely celebrated date in the state. It is bigger than the 4th of July, Christmas or Easter. It is also the date of some parades in towns with populations well under 100 residents. Some good people who help me capture a few nice images as they enjoy themselves.

If you are going to start personal projects and actually get anything you want to show, it helps to keep a record of what you are doing. Not f/stops-shutter speeds and the technical stuff. That isn't really needed for most things unless it actually helps you improve your results. But things like 'who, what, when, where and why'. The basic photojournalism information to go with your images. A little planning, such as having a notebook, tape recorder and model releases won't hurt at all. A few images you have taken to help show people what it is you are doing can be helpful. A reason to be there & photograph can be as simple as "I am documenting interesting people". But, if you photograph someone and promise to send them a print, by all means-do so! If not, you will make it worse for the next person with a camera.

Pick a place, topic or interest & get started. Choice of film isn't that important as long as you are comfortable with it. Choice if camera is the same. Though I was surprised at having four different people come up to me in Grouse Creek to ask if the big camera was a Deardorff? Seems a few of these old cowboys do know a lot of interesting people from across the world and a few of them have photographed with the old 8x10 as well. That helped a lot.

Choose gear based on what you want to be comfortable with, or what you are already comfortable with. Don't choose a subject that is only a thinly disguised excuse to buy new gear. Choose something you want to do and you will have an easier time photographing as time passes. Don't be afraid to take inspiration from excellent photographers along the way, such as Jim Brandenbergs 'one shot a day for 3 months' project. Try to get something close enough to where you live to actually be able to spend some time doing it. A project on bears in Yosemite isn't too great if you can only visit once every three years during vacation. Having a long term project or two near home can help a lot when you start looking at images and find they are actually getting done.

If you are in a photo rut as some get in, use a project to help stimulate interest & excitement in your work. Bullet hole patterns in stop signs might be a good one. Tire skids along the highway, or teen hangouts in town could be one that interests you. Night photography outside the local 7-11 in the rain might ring your bell. The possibilities are endless, with some actually ending up with good images as you get busy photographing.

Pick one lens, one camera projects if you need a challenge. Or documenting city hall meetings in your town. Or seeing how many photos you can get of construction workers leaning on their shovels. Heck, you can even go to parades & pick on kids too young to walk. Or try to capture politicians with their fingers up their noses. (used to have a great one of Gen. Westmoreland like this-as well as a former President of the USA).

The catch is simple, find something-anything-you might think is interesting or challenging, and start photographing. Then make sure you present the images properly so they will garner more respect as you progress. A group of images matted, mounted & presented well commands a lot more respect than a bunch of loose RC prints in a cardboard folder. Treat the images with respect and your project will be treated that way by others. Even when they say 'why in the world would anyone photograph this...', they will do so as they are viewing some good images.

Write down your project titles or subjects and add to the images on a regular basis. So what if you throw a bunch away, you are photographing & learning. About yourself as well as your images. If it helps, put a time limit on the project. Or, keep it open ended if it suits your purposes. Just so you make progress on a regular basis. But whatever you do, create images. Small towns, big towns, individuals or crowds. Speed traps or railroad crossing signs. The subject isn't really that important, having fun is. And almost anything you have an interest in can be fun to photograph if you really want to do it. Remember, you don't have to be 'the concerned photographer' all the time, you can have a good time shooting weekend bicycle racers or T-Ball kids or youth soccer players sock styles. Just so long as you do so on a regular, ongoing basis.

If you look at what you have been photographing for the past few years a few trends may emerge that can help push you into a project. If so, plan on expanding it. Or, plan on a time limit so you will have 10 solid images to show by the end of the year. Then take these images and get a venue to show them. Whether camera club, coffee house or high end gallery, a collection of strong images on a specific topic will get looked at more than ten separate and unrelated images.

So, get the camera out & get started. Hone your skills and push the limits a bit and get some good images. And, if you see me photographing a celebration in your nearby small town or setting up a 5x7 view camera in a local farmers market, come on over & say hi and maybe I will photograph you as well.

The attached image

Photographed with a 5x7 view camera, exposure about 1 second. These folks were nice enough to let me photograph them at work. The store is small, with this veiw looking at the large section. These folks, just like many others, had no objection to my photographing their shop. Yes, I asked. And yes, I was rewarded with an image that works for me. There are a lot of small locations of all kinds available to us all if we would go out and photograph them.